Pipe-wrench



G. W. HAMMOND. PIPE WRENGH.

No. 440,564. Patented Nov. 11, 1890.

i 4.4444mm"nu I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GLEN lV. HAMMOND, OF \VELLSBOROUGII, PENNSYLVANIA.

PIPE-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 440,564, dated November11, 1890.

Application filed July 20, 1888' Serial No. 280,468. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GLEN W. llAMMoND,a citizen of the United States,residing at ellsborough, in the county of Tioga and State'ofPennsylvania,haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inPipe-Wrenches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in pipe-wrenches,and has for its especial object to provide a wrench which, withinreasonable limits, shall be capable of automatically adjusting itself topipes of various diameters.

In the accompanyingdrawings, illustrative of my invention, Figure 1 is aperspective view of my improved wrench, and represents it as operatingupon a pipe of small diameter. Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, and represents it as operating upon a pipe of comparatively large diameter.Fig. 3 is a view of one form of my invention as used in handling wire,and Fig. at represents in sectional detail the preferred configurationof the jawteeth.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the views.

A is the annular frame or fixed jaw of my wrench, serrated on its outerperiphery, as shown, and provided with a handle 13. Pivoted to the frameat O is a swinging link, consisting of the arms D E, between the outerends of which is pivoted the movable jaw F, serrated upon its innerface, as shown, and provided with the back-stop projection G forlimiting its movement on the pivot II.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 3 the pivoted jaw F isbifurcated at K,

so as to bestride the frame A when in operation and prevent the wire Lfrom slipping from between it and the frame.

The parts being constructed and arranged as described, the operation ofmy invention is as follows: The wrench being opened sufficiently toreceive the pipe P, the pipeis inserted between the jaws and the jawsare closed upon it. A movement of the handle around toward the right inthe direction indicated by the arrow then causes the jaw F to close uponthe pipe with a force proportional to the power applied and to firmlygrasp it, whereupon a further movement in the same direction will causethe pipe to turn as far as may be desired. hen the wrench is opened toits widest capacity it will admit a pipe approximately of the diameterof the annular frame A, and it will operate upon any pipe of smallerdiameter with the same effectiveness, no readjustment of the jaws beingnecessary, as they close automatically upon any pipe placed betweenthem,without regard to size, as soon as the power is applied to thehandle. It will thus be seen that the wrench may be applied to pipesvarying considerably in size, one after another, without necessitatingany delay for adjustment, thus effecting a considerable saving of time.In operating upon a pipe of small diameter the pipe is placed betweenthe frame A and the jaw F, toward the outer end of the latter, as shownin Fig. 1, and the tendency of the jaw F to turn around upon the pivotII, and thus release the pipe, is prevented by the back-stop G, whichcomes in contact with the arms D E, and thus limits the movement of thejaw F in that direction.

The peculiar construction of my device en ables me to obtain asufficiently firm hold upon the pipe by rounding off the edges of thegripping-faces of the jaw F and frame A, as shown at a b, Fig. 4, thuscausing the pipe less injury than it receives from the sharp outercorners of the serrated jaws of the ordinary form of pipe-wrench.

It is obvious that the use of my wrench is not confined to pipesalone,but it maybe employed to turn rods or bolts or round nuts wherethe common wrench has no effect.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

In a wrench, the combination, with a stationary jaw, of a pivoted jaw,the grippingfaoes of both of said jaws having teeth or serrationsrounded off at their sides, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

- GLEN W. HAMMOND.

\Vitnesses:

HENRY SHERWOOD, E. H. OWLETT.

